islaApocalypse/Tools/README.md
beezm d72ffc0183 docs: bring all READMEs current with actual code (post-sweep-10 truth pass)
Every README was read first, checked against the code in its directory, then
rewritten to describe what the code actually does now.

Corrected throughout: map size is config-driven (8192 default) not a fixed
4096; chunks are 24x24x256 not 32x32; road carving is implemented for all four
tiers, not a 'next step'; Data/ and Resources/ are empty, not populated.

Also fixed MATH_MARCHING_CUBES.md, which documented the density sign convention
exactly backwards — it claimed positive was underground, where the code treats
positive as above the surface and counts a corner inside when density < iso.
Getting that backwards inverts every normal, a bug this project has hit before.

The root README now carries accurate run steps: F5 runs the map generator (not
the game), F6 on Scenes/Main.tscn runs the 3D world, and ChunkRadius is a load
radius that should be dropped to 4-8 while iterating.

Docs only. No code changed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-05 05:23:58 -04:00

2.8 KiB
Raw Blame History

/Tools

Offline developer utilities. Nothing here ships. These generate the source data that /Server and /Client later consume, which keeps world-generation logic out of the shipped client.

The 2D world generator

Script: Tools/Scripts/MapGenerator.cs · Scenes: Tools/Scenes/MapPreview.tscn and Scenes/MapCaptureTool.tscn

Builds the topographical and logistical foundation of the island before any 3D exists.

  • Resolution is config-driven, from ServerConfig.json's MapProfile: 4K/6K/8K/10K → 4096 / 6144 / 8192 / 10240. Shipped default is 8K. 1 pixel = 1 in-game metre = 1 voxel footprint. (The MapSize field initialiser in the script says 4096, but it is overwritten from config before use.)
  • Topography: FastNoiseLite plus distance-falloff maths for a guaranteed mainland island, a mountain spine, dynamic temperature-driven sea level, and an impact crater pushed into the northern coast (carved at 80 % of its radius so a landbridge always survives).
  • Logistics: AStarGrid2D pathfinding producing a looping continental highway, a branch to the mountain hub, and county roads daisy-chained outward with Prim's algorithm. Paths are decimated (RamerDouglasPeucker) then smoothed (4 Chaikin passes).
  • Zoning: biome mapping and tiered town/POI placement by slope, temperature and proximity.

⚠️ A* is the known bottleneck

The grid is one node per pixel — 67 million nodes at 8K — and the weight-setup pass walks every one of them. A full generation can stall long enough that runs get abandoned. await yields are sprinkled through the road stage, but they cannot interrupt a single engine-side GetPointPath call, so they only help between paths. Expect a regeneration to take minutes, or to need abandoning.

Outputs — written to user://, not into the project

File What it is
MapData_Seed_<seed>.dat The binary blueprint the server reads (~512 MB at 8K)
Map_Seed_<seed>.png Visual snapshot of the map, for reviewing and picking seeds

On Linux: ~/.local/share/godot/app_userdata/islaApocolypse/.

Running it

Open Tools/Scenes/MapPreview.tscn and press F6. It is also the project's main scene, so pressing F5 anywhere runs this — which is why F5 regenerates your world instead of starting the game. Use Scenes/MapCaptureTool.tscn when you specifically want the full-resolution PNG.

Rules

  1. No client dependencies. Nothing here may reference UI, player controllers or shaders in /Client.
  2. Data out, nothing in. Tools emit .dat/.png/.json; they never write to a live server save.
  3. No magic numbers. Distances and radii scale off MapSize or the derived scaleFactor, so the generator behaves the same at every profile.